Statement by the teachers of Journalism Day against banning Vamos a Cuba!
The following letter was emailed to all school board members on two occasions, receiving only responses from Ms. Evelyn Greer and Dr. Martin Karp:
We, the journalism teachers of Journalism Day, November 4, 2006, support our colleagues, the media specialists of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and the American Civil Liberties Union in asking the school board to drop its attempt to ban the book, “Vamos A Cuba” and the entire “Vamos” series. It is the responsibility of this school system to vigorously support the First Amendment of the United States and the exercise of these rights.
Freedom of expression and academic freedom allow students to learn at high levels and develop both individual and social responsibility. MDCPS Student Publication Guideline 25, for example, defends students’ free press rights, and, not surprisingly, our journalism programs have been recognized nationally for decades. Jack Dvorak, in his book Journalism Kids Do Better, found that student journalists exploring their freedom of expression perform at a higher level than their peers on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), Advanced Placement (AP) Exams, and in college academics.
Wisely, this school board backs the Secondary Schools First Amendment Initiative in recognition of all the opportunities that our society has for communication in this internet age.
If students’ ability to research, explore, read and learn is limited, we will not have the world class school system that our international community deserves. If the number of perspectives that they can access is filtered by a few, our students’ lessons in democracy will be diminished.
Trust our students, parents, media specialists and teachers to make their own decisions about what they want to see, hear and read in the schools. Neither will all books have the adult perspectives that we might want, nor will we agree on everything, but our debates will ultimately lead to the truth.
Please abandon your unconstitutional efforts to ban books from our libraries. Your reversal in this decision will benefit us all.
Approved by voice vote at Journalism Day on 11/4/06
Statement by the teachers of Journalism Day against banning Vamos a Cuba!
The following letter was emailed to all school board members on two occasions, receiving only responses from Ms. Evelyn Greer and Dr. Martin Karp:
We, the journalism teachers of Journalism Day, November 4, 2006, support our colleagues, the media specialists of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and the American Civil Liberties Union in asking the school board to drop its attempt to ban the book, “Vamos A Cuba” and the entire “Vamos” series. It is the responsibility of this school system to vigorously support the First Amendment of the United States and the exercise of these rights.
Freedom of expression and academic freedom allow students to learn at high levels and develop both individual and social responsibility. MDCPS Student Publication Guideline 25, for example, defends students’ free press rights, and, not surprisingly, our journalism programs have been recognized nationally for decades. Jack Dvorak, in his book Journalism Kids Do Better, found that student journalists exploring their freedom of expression perform at a higher level than their peers on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), Advanced Placement (AP) Exams, and in college academics.
Wisely, this school board backs the Secondary Schools First Amendment Initiative in recognition of all the opportunities that our society has for communication in this internet age.
If students’ ability to research, explore, read and learn is limited, we will not have the world class school system that our international community deserves. If the number of perspectives that they can access is filtered by a few, our students’ lessons in democracy will be diminished.
Trust our students, parents, media specialists and teachers to make their own decisions about what they want to see, hear and read in the schools. Neither will all books have the adult perspectives that we might want, nor will we agree on everything, but our debates will ultimately lead to the truth.
Please abandon your unconstitutional efforts to ban books from our libraries. Your reversal in this decision will benefit us all.
Approved by voice vote at Journalism Day on 11/4/06